M&M’s Introduced First New Character in Over a Decade and Her Name Is Purple

In 2002, M&M ran a promotion asking its fans to vote on a new color. Purple won that contest, but the brightly colored candy was only around temporarily.

A full twenty years later and fans are finally getting what they asked for. Well, sort of. It turns out, M&M's has big plans for Purple and her new role.

The first new M&M's character in over a decade will not be found in mixed packs of Peanut M&M’s, but rather will appear as a “spokescandy”, for now.

That said, true M&M's fans can grab one of the limited edition "Be You" gift jars. Filled entirely with purple M&M’s the jars are meant to celebrate Purple's arrival. 

Who Is M&M’s New Character Purple?

Purple is joining Brown and Green M&M's as the third female in the iconic candy crew, and notably becomes the first female Peanut M&M in the beloved lineup.

Of course, Purple is unique is in another very special way, meant to represent inclusion, acceptance and diversity. How seriously cool is that?!

Purple even debuted with her own catchy theme song, “I’m Just Gonna Be Me," voiced by Amber Ruffin. It is available to stream on all major music platforms.

Mars, Incorporated is donating one dollar (up to $500,000) for every stream to the non-profit Sing for Hope, an incredible organization committed to harnessing the power of the performing arts to change the world.

Backlash Over Purple M&M’s Character

As you can imagine, when M&M's introduced Purple and her messages of inclusivity, there was inevitably immediate backlash from bitter internet trolls snidely referring to the character as "woke."

Guess what, haters? Damn right we’re woke. If only more people could wake up and see how truly beautiful all humans are, the world would be a better place. In the meantime, we will keep pushing love and acceptance.

Besides, are we really getting worked up about the gender or sexual orientation of an M&M's charcter? (Ha! That’s a sentence I never thought I would type.)

M&M's Recipes to Enjoy with Purple M&M's

As excited as we are for the arrival of Purple and the upcoming release of the highly anticipated Espresso M&M's, we also love baking with M&M's.

Our M&M's brownies recipe features a creamy chocolate buttercream frosting on top that you're going to want to slather on everything.

This recipe for our beloved M&M's monster cookies is always a hit, as is our truly unique monster cookie dough dip - I love it with graham crackers!

Lest we should break from the pattern, this monster cookie bars recipe is loaded with M&M's and would be delicious made with peanut Purple M&M's!